Most children of divorced parents in the United States (40 percent of all children) adjust well to their parents' split. But 20 to 25 percent of children have trouble dealing with their parents' divorce. Many of the problems these children have can last into their adult years. Researchers at the University of Arizona tried to find out whether post-divorce counseling for children helped prevent some negative outcomes of divorce-conduct problems, dropping out of school, substance use, high-risk sexual behaviors, and depression-during the teen years.

To find out whether counseling could reduce problems during the teen years in children of divorce, researchers tested more than 200 9- to 12-year-olds who lived with their mothers after a divorce. The children and their mothers took part in one of three programs:

• One program for mothers included 11 group sessions and 2 private sessions. The group sessions addressed improving the mother-child relationship, disciplining, increasing the father's access to the child, and reducing conflict between the parents.
• Another program consisted of 11 group sessions and 2 private sessions for the mothers and 11 group sessions for the children. The mothers' group sessions addressed improving the mother-child relationship, disciplining, increasing the father's access to the child, and reducing conflict between the parents. The children's group sessions were designed to help the children improve their coping and problem-solving skills.
• The third program was a control group in which participants received three books on adjusting to divorce, but no private or group counseling.

After 6 years, researchers checked on 218 of the families that participated to see how the children had fared as teens. Teens who had received counseling as children were far more likely than those with no counseling to avoid mental health problems that often plague teens whose parents have split up. In fact, surveys revealed that 23.5 percent of the teens who had no counseling or other help had mental health problems, compared with 11 percent of the teens who had been in the programs. Researchers also found that counseling in childhood reduced marijuana, alcohol, and other illegal drug use and number of sexual partners during the teen years.

Teens whose mothers had post-divorce counseling also fared better than teens whose mothers had no counseling. Teens whose mothers took part in the counseling program-even when the teens received no counseling-had fewer symptoms of mental health problems and lower rates of alcohol, marijuana, and other illegal drug use.

While many youth may not seem to need counseling if they appear to be dealing well with their parents' divorce, the lasting benefits of counseling for both parents and children make it a good investment. To learn more about counseling programs in your area, talk to your family doctor.

Sources

Wolchik, S.A., I.N. Sandler, R.E. Millsap, B.A. Plummer, S.M. Greener, E.R. Anderson, S.R. Dawson-McClure, K. Hipke, and R.A. Haine. 2002. Six-year followup of preventive interventions for children of divorce: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of the American Medical Association 288.